If you haven’t caught up yet with the Cats & Conjure series yet, now’s your chance: the first boxset is available in ebook. This is the first three novellas all in one release, about 300 pages or 95K words.

The details:Adelaide Deveraux has lived a quiet life in the country after inheriting her late grandmother’s home, but that life is interrupted when a tiger shows up at her door, shifting into a very injured—and very naked—human man in need of help.

Erik Wells has been on the run his whole life, now from the underground gladiator ring who abduct shifters and have them fight to the death for entertainment. Though he needs to keep running, but something about Addie draws him to her home and her care. The tiger in him senses it: there’s more to Addie than apparent at first glance—more to her knack for working with roots and herbs; more to her prophetic dreams; more to the secrets buried in her family history.

A bond they try to deny draws them together as Addie heals Erik, throwing the pair in the path of the psychopathic sorcerer hunting him. From there, the peril’s just beginning, for Addie is more powerful than anyone could’ve guessed and dangerous people seek to exploit her magic.

And no, this isn’t the end of Addie and Erik’s story–there are three more novellas I’m hoping to release this year. If you dig these books, please tell your friends and consider leaving reviews–they’re my lowest-selling titles (as much as I love them) and while I’m determined to finish the series for readers, I take a financial hit on each one. Any extra support the stories get, I greatly appreciate.

I hope to have news about Alley Cat VERY soon–I’m aiming for a late Feb/March release, but that’ll depend on how the writing of it goes.

Recap and Sale

If you missed the previous books in the series, both are available for 99c EVERYWHERE for another couple of weeks.

If you read the books back when they first released in 2013 and need a refresher before launching into the third, you can download that here.

Giveaway

I’m at Romance Novels in Color today with a brief interview about Stray Cat Strut and my writing. You’ll also find a giveaway for a $10 Amazon GC open to a few different countries. You have a week to enter to win. There’s also a Q&A over at Darien Cox’s website. Tuesday I have a guest post talking about the Beauty and the Beast influence on Addie and Erik, “Though Lovers Be Lost“.

I’m also giving away a copy of any book from my backlist–enter to win at the bottom of this post.

New release

Without further ado, here is the info about Stray Cat Strut (want an excerpt? There’s one here as well as at some of the places I have guest posts).

Adelaide Deveraux has escaped her enemy’s compound along with her tiger-shifter lover, Erik Wells, but the home that had once been her sanctuary is now gone, burned to the ground and leaving them with no choice but to go on the run.

At least Erik knows a thing or two about running; he’s been doing it for most of his life, and he’s determined to keep Addie safe. Between their handful of allies and Addie’s growing magic, he thinks they just might have enough resources to survive, and, for the first time in his life, sees a future for himself and the woman he loves.

But the powerful sorcerer on their tail has more than owning Addie in his sights. Now he’s also out for revenge and not everyone will make it out alive…

What about print?

For those who prefer print, you can order the complete first volume of Cats & Conjure stories now (although the official release date was October 2). It’s available on Amazon and CreateSpace. There will be an ebook boxset in the future, likely January-ish.

Is the series done?

There are more books in this series–three more. Unfortunately, they don’t sell well. This means I can’t rush and write them all at once–I hate to harp on this, but I literally cannot afford to, not when I invest more money in them than they’re going to make back. At this point I am only completing them because I don’t want to leave the handful of fans who love and buy the books hanging. I hope to have the last three out next year, but if this third does poorly, I may have to do some shuffling. Please do not yell at me for the delay. When books sell, I can write more of them faster; when they don’t, everyone has to wait. Yelling at me does not make me write faster, it just makes me feel more guilty, which is not conductive to writing.

Please only obtain legal copies of my books. I’m paid on a per-purchase basis, and invest my own time and money into publishing my work. If you enjoy books, don’t steal them. Massive thanks to those who do get things legally and support their favourite writers–it helps enormously and you are the reason I will finish this series.

If you need to download the Cats & Conjure recap, you’ll find that on my blog on Friday morning!

I haven’t posted an excerpt in quite a while. With Stray Cat Strut just days away, I thought it might be time for a snippet! It’s PG13 and just for Addie/Erik fans.

Adelaide Deveraux has escaped her enemy’s compound along with her tiger-shifter lover, Erik Wells, but the home that had once been her sanctuary is now gone, burned to the ground and leaving them with no choice but to go on the run.

At least Erik knows a thing or two about running; he’s been doing it for most of his life, and he’s determined to keep Addie safe. Between their handful of allies and Addie’s growing magic, he thinks they just might have enough resources to survive, and, for the first time in his life, sees a future for himself and the woman he loves.

But the powerful sorcerer on their tail has more than owning Addie in his sights. Now he’s also out for revenge and not everyone will make it out alive…

Erik could barely meet Addie’s eyes as they covered the rest of the distance to the motel. He wasn’t happy with everything she’d witnessed him do in the past few days. He’d slaughtered guards left and right at Lincoln’s compound, now tracked down a campsite and stolen a set of clothes and cash. A killer and thief, that’s what she’d tied herself to.

Worst still, he’d brought Lincoln to her door. Had her kidnapped, tormented. Had her home destroyed and friends either killed or put in danger.

How could she still stand to be around him at all? Shame burned hotly in him and he kept his head down as they crossed the parking lot.

“They’ll be looking for an interracial couple, if they’re checking around,” Addie spoke up. “And I look like I’ve been running through the woods all day.”

“I’ll get the key and meet you.” His hand brushed her arm for a moment and then they parted, Addie heading down the long row of motel rooms while Erik went for the manager’s office. The parking lot was partially full, enough so that he didn’t think he’d be remembered if asked, but thankfully no witnesses were around who could be questioned later about his presence.

The manager was still seated at the desk reading an old copy of Hustler as he had been when Erik scoped the place out earlier. A prominent sign listed the price per day and per week, as well as a notice that said “No ID Required; Cash Upfront”.

The man barely glanced up when Erik walked in, simply turned the guestbook his way for Erik to sign, took the money, dropped the key to room fourteen, and went back to his magazine.

Paying for the room for one night left them with twenty-three dollars. It wouldn’t get them far, but he grabbed a couple of delivery menus from the rack beside the manager’s desk and continued on to meet Addie.

Despite everything she’d been through, she remained beautiful. Disheveled and exhausted, true, and his heart ached thinking of all she’d endured, but there was still a strength to the way she stood, the way her big brown eyes met his, that warmed his body with need.

As he reached her, he gently pressed his palm to her lower back and led her toward the fourteenth room. He passed her the menus for local pizza and Chinese joints, and unlocked the door.

The room was nothing exceptional—he’d be happy if it turned out to at least have clean sheets—and a far cry from Addie’s comfortable home, but for now it was at least safe.

He shut the door behind them, locked it, and closed the ratty dark curtains before turning on the light.

Addie stood in the center of the room, staring at the menus without seeming to see them.

“If you’re not hungry…” he started.

“I am…but I’m not.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “You know what I mean?”

“We can order later.”

“You can pick something if you want.” She dropped the menus on the bed and walked unsteadily toward the dark bathroom across the room. “I’ll take a bath.” She slipped off the running shoes she’d taken from the compound and turned on the bathroom light. A bare bulb in the ceiling flickered to life, revealing formerly-white tile.

Erik took off his own stolen shoes and stretched his arms, rubbed his shoulders. The bed at least seemed clean, sheets smelling of fresh laundry, even if the carpet was stained and burned by cigarette butts in various spots and everything else left much to be desired. Although he knew there was nothing they could do for the next few hours while Addie rested, he couldn’t shut his brain off, couldn’t stop trying to decide what to do next.

The plan originally had been to regroup with the others at Addie’s house. Once their allies found her place in ruins, where would they go? Hell, Erik didn’t even know for sure who survived. Even those who made it from Lincoln’s compound could be hunted and killed. And if something happened to Naliah, her people would scatter.

The faucets roared to life in the other room, water striking the porcelain as the tub filled. He walked to the bathroom doorway and leaned against the frame, watching Addie. Her back was to the rapidly-filling tub, instead facing the sink. She’d wound her long wavy dark hair up into a knot at the base of her skull and her clothes seemed to hang on her; despite the fact that it had only been a few days that she’d been captive by Lincoln, she likely hadn’t eaten and the previous glow to her medium-brown skin and vibrancy had faded a little. Her shoulders were slumped and dark half-circles hung under her eyes.

Words hovered on his lips for a moment before he could finally force them out. “Addie…”

Her eyes closed and head tipped down. “Don’t,” she whispered.

He braced, ready for her to tell him she didn’t want him there anymore, to condemn him for everything he’d put her through. “Whatever you want, Adelaide. I’ll leave, I’ll stay. I’ll fight for you, I’ll kill for you. I’ll die for you. I brought this into your life and I’m sorry for that. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”

At last she met his gaze in the mirror, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her voice came out more forceful this time. “I said, don’t. I don’t want your apologies. I don’t want your guilt. I’ve only ever wanted you.” The tears fell faster, her shoulders quivering, and the sight broke his heart. “You’re safe and that’s all that matters to me, Erik.”

Well, it’s been a year and a half (I am sorry to fans of this series) but the third Cats & Conjure novella, Stray Cat Strut, is now up for pre-order.

It releases September 18, 2015. Once again it’s around 100 pages, the length of the others. And yes, it has another cliffhanger, although a huge part of the main plot is resolved in this one. Addie and Erik will be back in the fourth novella, Alley Cat, which will likely release early next year. This series unfortunately isn’t a big seller for me and needs all the support it can get–if you like the novellas, please consider leaving them a review and/or telling a friend (and for God’s sake, stop pirating them if you would like them to release faster).

Cats in Heat and Cat Scratch Fever will both be on sale for 99c each for the month leading up to Stray Cat Strut‘s release, so if you haven’t started reading these books, you can wait until then and get them really cheap.

If you HAVE read the series and need a recap, I’ll be offering that for download on my blog when Stray Cat Strut releases.

Here are the details:

Adelaide Deveraux has escaped her enemy’s compound along with her tiger-shifter lover, Erik Wells, but the home that had once been her sanctuary is now gone, burned to the ground and leaving them with no choice but to go on the run.

At least Erik knows a thing or two about running; he’s been doing it for most of his life, and he’s determined to keep Addie safe. Between their handful of allies and Addie’s growing magic, he thinks they just might have enough resources to survive, and, for the first time in his life, sees a future for himself and the woman he loves.

But the powerful sorcerer on their tail has more than owning Addie in his sights. Now he’s also out for revenge and not everyone will make it out alive…

If you’re a regular visitor, you may have noticed things are a bit different. I’m no longer at blogspot but have a new website. All the previous posts have been copied over. There are still some kinks to work out but this is it! I hope you like it and find it easy to navigate; I’m quite pleased with it.

My newest release came out a few weeks ago–a full-length novel called THE BOOK OF LOVE about a cranky divorced romance writer and his determined new editor. It was a lot of fun to write and thus far readers seem to enjoy it, which is always a relief.

After that, on August 14, I’m releasing the Asha King Starter Bundle as another boxset–this is three of my series first books collected together in one release. Not something the average fan needs but hopefully it’ll get some new eyes on my work. If you’ve missed those books and want to save several bucks, there you go. WILD HORSES (retail $3.99), CATS IN HEAT (retail $2.99), and CINDERS (retail $2.99) for $4.99 total.

What I’m Working On

There are three more novellas planned in that series (you will understand when you see how #3 ends), however I will have to stagger the books between others because the previous one didn’t sell well and I can’t afford to spend that much time away from books that DO make okay money. Thank you to those who purchase my books and I’m sorry for the gap between releases. When STRAY CAT STRUT is ready, I’ll maybe write up a recap of the previous two for longtime readers as a refresher.